Reunion Island 8 Day/7 Night Hike

With different waves of immigration, Reunion Island has developed a rainbow-coloured population.
Reunion Island was virgin land when settlement began in the middle of the 17th century. The first settlers were French, who quickly surrounded themselves with slaves from Africa, the “Cafres” and Madagascar. Later, Indian, Tamil and residents of the New Zealand coast of Coromandel joined them.
All their descendants, regardless of their origin, are still called “Malabars”. Immigration of Muslim Indians – known as “Zarabs” – and Chinese craftsmen and traders dates back to the 19th century. From the 1960s, mainland French residents moved to Reunion Island in increasing numbers. In the 1970s, Mahorais and Comorians settled here. 

This is a semi-slack-pack hike. You will not carry bedding or food, but only your clothes and lunch each day. The Gites will prepare the food for us, and there will be drinks for sale.  We will spend 7 days on Reunion and hike for 5 days.  We will stay 3 nights at Gites (Hiking huts with 4 to 6 beds per room) with shared bathrooms, and 3 nights we will spend at a 3-star hotel with your own en-suite room.

Itinerary – please note, bedding and food are provided. Only overnight clothes and hiking clothes should be in your backpack, plus a few items as suggested on the hiking list.

Day 1 – 28 May
22:45: Fly to Reunion via Air Austral or Air Mauritius. Air Austral lands at 6:00 am the next day in Reunion

Day 2:
Pick-up by the guide at the airport
Transfer airport – Hell Bourg
Visit of the village.
Small easy hike eventually.
Luggages with the group
Night at Hell Bourg, gîte

Day 3 – Start of hike

• Transport from the hotel to the start of the hike
• Start hiking with your backpack that is packed for only 1 night, see the suggested list of what to pack. Your big bag will be transported to the hotel where we will stay after 2 days of hiking.
• 15:00 Arrive at the overnight Marla Gite, relax, and enjoy the local food

Day 4:

• Hike after breakfast towards Cilaos, and have lunch along the way. (own account)
• Hike to Taïbit Road, Public Bus Taïbit to Cilaos City
• Arrive at the overnight Cilaos, where you will see your big bag, stay at a 3-star hotel, relax, and enjoy the local food.
• Dinner at the hotel or in town (own expense)

Day 5:

• Relax morning after breakfast
• Enjoy the town of Cilaos.
• Have lunch in Cilaos (own account).
• Hike after lunch to our overnight in a Refugee camp close to the top of Piton des Neiges, the highest Mountain peak in the Indian Ocean.
• Only take 1 night’s overnight clothes, your big bags will be transported again to the Gite that you will see in 2 days.
• Enjoy the sunset close to the summit of Piton des Neiges.
• Dinner at the Refugee

Day 6:

• Start to hike in the dark, before sunrise, hike to Piton des Neiges, the summit, to see the sunrise over the ocean.
• Walk down after sunrise to Gîte de Bélouve
• Night Gîte de Bélouve
• Dinner at the Gite

Day 7:

• After breakfast, hike in the famous Bebour forest.
• Hike Trou de Fer to Belouve
• Lunch,  and get transported with your bags to the next overnight, Gite Volcano
• Dinner at the Gite.

Day 8: 

• Breakfast
• Hike to the active Volcano, Piton de la Fornaise.
• Discover the Fouque enclosure and its recent lava flows.
• After the hike, we will be transported to a hotel in St Giles.
• Check in at the hotel.
• Dinner at your own cost

Day 9:

• Breakfast (included)
• 11:00 Check out, plan your own adventure for the last 2 days.
• Transfer after checkout included back to the airport if you need to pick up a car. But if you don’t use this transfer on the morning of checkout, you can not use it later.
• Enjoy the rest of Reunion for another 2 days.
  Here is a list of what we suggest you can do:
  1. Drive around the Island
  2. White water rafting
  3. Mountain biking
  4. Canyonering
  5. Scuba Diving

Itinerary – please note, bedding and food are provided. Only 1 nights overnight clothes and hiking clothes should be in your backpack, plus a few items as suggested on the hiking list. Please pack light.

You should be able to get everything into a 35-liter to 45-liter backpack, and it should not weigh more than 15% of a woman’s weight and 20% of a man’s weight

• Your own medicine you need, please let us know if you have any allergies
• Toiletries, small shampoo, soap, toothbrush etc
• Clothes for 1 days,
• 1 warm set of clothes to wear in the evening,
  • fleece top,
  • tracksuit pants,
  • light puffer jacket,
  • thermal long pants, or running tights under the tracksuit pants
  • warm thick socks
  • Crocs shoes or something similar, that is light, and you can wear with thick socks at night
• Waterproof Rain jacket
• Waterproof cover for your backpack if it does not have one
• Hiking Socks, something like Belague, which is good for blisters
• Trail shoes are better than boots, because your shoes will get wet and trail shoes dry quickly. Please bring shoes that do not keep water in.
• Underwear
• Hiking shirts, preferably long-sleeved for the sun, or arm protectors,
• Hiking pants/shorts
• Bladder or water bottles to carry 2 l water
• A towel that dries quickly
• Swim suit
• Buffs
• Head lamp
• Pillow bag to put their pillow in or for the 1 night at the Refugee, where you will use clothes to make a pillow
• A hygiene sheet, for the bed and specifically for the one night at the Refugee,
• Hiking sticks, if you like
• Gloves for the day of the summit, it is 3500m above sea level, and we will be there at sunrise, it will be cold for about an hour
• Cash, euros, to buy lunch each day, max 50 euros per day, depends on what you order, but a local plate of food is about 15 to 20 euros
• Small light flask for coffee and coffee sachets for 5 days
• A cup, you can buy collapsible cups at Outdoor shops
• camera
• Some snacks, energy bars, nuts etc
• Powdered energy drinks for 4 days to mix with water
• Chargers
• Hat
• Sunglasses
• Space blanket
• Sunscreen
• A few ziplock bags or a plastic holder to pack some lunch
• Earplugs, we will share, and some people will snore

Our accommodation will be at 3-star hotels and Gites in the mountains.

For 3 nights we will stay in the Gites in the mountains with shared bathrooms and bedrooms, This is the only available accommodation, no other options available.

For 3 nights we will stay at 3-star hotel with your own room and bathroom.

Start point venue: St Denis, Reunion
Finish Venue: Saint Gilles

We will be hiking the Cirques of Salazie, Mafate, and Cilaos and summit the highest peak in the Inidan Ocean,  Piton de Neiges (3070)  as well as the active volcano Piton de la Fornaise

Fly via Air Austral.

Please book your flights from Johannesburg to Reunion.

The package starts early, 6 am at the airport where we will be picked up by a taxi to take us to the hotel.  No delays will be tolerated.

The package includes 7 nights of accommodation

Check-in is on 27 May 2027, and check-out is on 4 June 2027

If you would like to stay longer, please arrange your own accommodation and transport back to the airport.

Air Austral lands at 6:10 at St Denis, Reunion. Transfer to and from the airport on 27 May and back again on 4 June.

After 4th June you must plan your own trip on the Island until you fly back to SA. 

Day 1: 4 km: +350, – 350
Day 2: 7km,:+850m, -600 m, 7 Hours
Day 3: 12km: 1700m, -1500 m, 9 hours
Day 4: 9km: +1500m, -200 m, 6 hours
Day 5: 16km: +900m, – 1600 m, 9 hours
Day6: 12km: +850m, – 850 m, 7 hours

Limited to 10

This is an amazing hike and so beautiful. It is one of the most beautiful hikes we have ever done, it is so different from South Africa’s mountains.

BUT, PLEASE, you must be prepared and fit enough for the hike; otherwise, it will be a misadventure for you, and your attitude will affect the rest of the group’s hikeing experience.

PLEASE, no beginners, only Fit hikers that can do a lot of elevation and descents for the whole day. Nobody with any injuries must start this hike; must be able to do a lot of elevation of more than 1500 m per day. Even if it is NOT a technical hike, it is only for Fit to Experienced Hikers.

Not for Beginners.

Not too much technical hiking, but not for an unfit, intermediate and definitely not for a beginner hiker. The elevations and descents are long.  It is a steep gradient going up and going down. You can not train for this hike on gravel roads only; you must be able to train for it by doing some elevation hikes of 700m at a time and more before you arrive in Reunion.

Our elevation will be between 900 and 1600m (or more if you choose to do the Piton des Neiges) per day. No people with a fear of heights, please. Must be able to do some technical sections over rocks and boulders. Please contact me before you register at sonja@trisport.co.za

Age: Minimum age 17.

People 63 and older must please send us a letter from their doctor stating that they are OK to hike the distances and elevation each day

Single tracks, boulders, rocks,  steep long uphill and downhill sections, hiking trail, rocky roads, uphill, downhill. Elevation can be between 900 and 1800m a day (if you decide to do Pito des Neignes)

• 7 Nights, 8 Days;
• 7 nights’ accommodation,
• 6 Days of hiking
• 5 nights at Gite’s
• 2 night at a 3-star hotel
• Reunion English Guides
• Cost of Mountain Guides
• Transport from the airport to the start of the hike and transport back to the airport. If you decide to stay longer, you have to arrange and pay your own transport back to the airport.
• Pick up at the finish point of the hike at Piton Fornaise and transport to the Finish venue, a  3-star hotel.
• Trisport Guides
• Nature Reserve entry fees
• Permits and entry fees
• All arrangements to ensure you have an amazing  Reunion hike
• Breakfast and dinner on the hike, except at Cilaos and St Gilles, no lunches included.
• Breakfast at all the Gites except at Ciloas and St Gilles hotel
• Home-cooked Reunion local food
• All the arrangements by Trisport
• The advantage of Trisport’s scouting and making sure you have a great experience
• An unforgettable and unique Reunion experience.

• Travel to Reunion
• Alcoholic drinks; and
• Lunches each day
• Dinner at Cilaos and St Gilles.
• Guide Tips
• Any extra excursions
• Extra days and nights on the Island other than the package
• Any other Extras
• Transfers outside the package dates

A 7 Day/6 night Dive tour where we will stay at a 3 star hotel about 200m from our dive shop. We will do 8 dives and have an extra day to relax or do something else on the Island. We will stay about 200 from the water edge, so a quick swim or snorkel before we dive is possible. We will dive off a ski boat with enough seating and space to move around.

Venue: 3 star hotel in the town, L’Etang Sale (Salty pond) , Reunion, on the west coast of Reunion.

Limited to 16 Divers

Not suitable for beginners.

At least 30 dives or Advance divers only. No beginner divers due to drift dives, tunnel dives, depth.

• 7 Days and 6 Nights accommodation,
• Breakfast and dinner
• 8 dives without kit, kit hire optional
• Experienced Dive masters
• Arrangements with Dive shop before we arrive
• Transport from the airport and back
• Extra day of hiking one of the Cirques
• All arrangements by Trisport
• The advantage of Trisport’s knowledge of the area, dive shops etc
• The advantage of Trisport’s scouting and making sure you have an great experience

• Alcoholic drinks
• Lunches
• Kit hire
• Courses
• Dive Insurance
• Travel Insurance
• Medical Insurance
• Any extras
• Optional excursions, such as an helicopter ride, canyonering etc
• Tips
• Other meals not provided
• Flights to Reunion

Day 1
Fly to Reunion

Day 2
Arrive at Reunion and transfer to hotel, Early check in

Check out the town, the beach, the dive shop. Get your dive gear ready for the dive the next day.

18:00 Dinner

Day 3 to Day 6, 4 days
07:00 Breakfast

Dive each day, weather depending. The program will be discussed by the dive shop once we arrive. It might be a double tank dive or 1 dive and then another dive later in the afternoon.
Optional activities, short hikes, E Bike, etc  in the afternoon availabe as well.

18:00 Dinner,

Day 7: Hiking one of the Cirques or do another dive day

Day 8
07:00 Breakfast and late check out at 12 pm

12:00 Optional to do something else

16:00 Transfer to Airport

20:30 Fly back to SA

23:00 Arrive back in SA

We will hike for 5 days and stay 4 nights at Gite’s (Hiking huts with 4 beds per room) with shared bathrooms.
For the dive trip section we will stay at a 3 star hotel about 200m from our dive shop. We will do 8 dives and have an extra day to relax or do something else on the Island. We will stay about 200 from the water edge, so a quick swim or snorkel before we dive is possible. We will dive off a ski boat with enough seating and space to move around.

With different waves of immigration, Reunion Island has developed a rainbow-coloured population.
Reunion Island was virgin land when settlement began in the middle of the 17th century. The first settlers were French, who quickly surrounded themselves with slaves from Africa, the “Cafres” and Madagascar. Later, Indian, Tamil and residents of the New Zealand coast of Coromandel joined them.
All their descendants, regardless of their origin, are still called “Malabars”. Immigration of Muslim Indians – known as “Zarabs” – and Chinese craftsmen and traders dates back to the 19th century. From the 1960s, mainland French residents moved to Reunion Island in increasing numbers. In the 1970s, Mahorais and Comorians settled here. 

Hike:
Our accommodation for the hike will be at Gite’s in the mountains for 4 nights, shared bathrooms, shared bedrooms, This is the only available accommodation, no other options avaiablle.
1st and last night will be at a 3 star hotel with your own room and bathroom.
Start point venue: Helbourg
Finish Venue: Cilaos
Hiking between the Cirques of Salazie, Mafate and Cilaos with Piton de Neiges (3070) as an optional summit

Dive:
Venue: 3 star hotel in L’Etang Sale (Salty pond) , Reunion, on the west coast of Reunion. 

Limited to 16

Hiking Fitness level:
Experienced Hikers. Not for Beginners. No technical hiking, no scrambling, but not for the unfit or if you can just hike on a gravel road. No people with fear of heights please. Must be able to do some technical sections over rocks and boulders. Must be able to walk at least 20 km to 25 km per day. People older than 70 must contact us 1st before they register please.

Dive Qualification:
Not suitable for Open Water divers with less than 30 dives.
At least 30 dives or Advance divers only. No beginner divers due to drift dives, tunnel dives, depth. 

• 12 nights/13 days
• 5 Days of hiking
• 8 dives
• Experienced Dive masters
• Arrangements with Dive shop
• Local Reunion Guides
• Cost of Guides
• Transport from the airport to start of the hike and transport back to airport
• Pick up at finish point of hike and transport to Finish venue a 3 star hotel
• Trisport Guides
• The advantage of Trisport’s knowledge of Reunion
• Start venue accommodation, Finish venue accommodation, 3 star hotels
• Nature Reserve entry fees
• Permits and entry fees
• All arrangements to ensure you have an amazing Reunion hike
• All meals from breakfast on first day of hike to lunch on finishing the hike.
• Home cooked Reunion local food
• All the arrangements by Trisport
• And unforgettable and unique Reunion experience.

• Alcoholic drinks
• Lunch after the hiking section
• Kit hire
• Courses
• Dive Insurance
• Travel Insurance
• Medical Insurance
• Any extras
• Optional excursions
• Tips
• Other meals not provided
• Flights to Reunion

Day 1

Fly to Reunion

Day 2:
7:00 Arrive at Reunion, transfer La Posession. Transfer to start of the hike. Hike 6km, about 4 hours to our 1st overnight at a Gite Grand Place les hauts in the mountains 

Day 3 to 5:
Start our hike, have lunch along the way.
Arrive at the overnight Gite, relax and enjoy the local food
Picked up at finish point, Cilaos, and transfer to Seaside hotel on West Coast where we will start our dive trip

Day 6: Canyonering, rafting or another hike trip (Piton Fornaise – the active Volcano) or just relax at the beach and enjoy the warm water

Day 7 to Day 11
07:00 Breakfast
Dive each day, weather depending. The program will be discussed by the dive shop once we arrive. It might be a double tank dive or 1 dive and then another dive later in the afternoon.
Optional activities, short hikes, E Bike, etc  in the afternoon available as well.
18:00 Dinner,

Day 11
07:00 Breakfast and check out

Optional day to do something else

20:30 Fly back to SA

23:00 Arrive back at SA